India prepared to give Saudi Aramco 50% stake in planned mega refinery

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India is set to grant Saudi Aramco a 50 percent stake in a planned 1.2 MMbpd west coast refinery, said an industry source privy to the deal, in a move that would give the kingdom a new stable outlet for its oil, reported Reuters.

A deal could be announced as early as Wednesday during Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih’s visit to New Delhi to attend the International Energy Forum, a source, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the talks, told Reuters.

Aramco, like other major oil producers, wants to tap rising demand growth and invest in the world’s third-biggest consumer. Last year it opened an office in Delhi. India has so far outlined plans to expand its refining capacity by 77 percent to about 8.8 MMbpd by 2030.

"There are somlast-minutete negotiations on small issues, but both countries are almost ready to announce a deal today," the source told Reuters.

Aramco was not immediately reachable for comment.

Representatives of Aramco held a marathon meeting with their counterparts from Indian companies on Tuesday.

Indian companies - Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum - have floated a joint-venture Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals (RRPL), to build the proposed refinery in the western state of Maharashtra.

B. Ashoka , chief executive officer of RRPL, who attended the meeting declined to comment.

Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer is moving to invest in refineries overseas here to help lock in demand for its crude, and expand its market share ahead of an initial public offering here next year.

During his previous visit to Delhi in February, Falih had said Saudi Arabia would also sign oil supply deals as part of the agreement to buy stakes in Indian refineries, a strategy the kingdom has adopted to expand its market share in Asia and fend off rivals.

Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investments in refinery projects in Indonesia and Malaysia which came with long-term oil crude supply deals.

The kingdom is competing with Iraq to be India’s top oil supplier, with Iraq having displaced it for the first time on an annual basis in 2017, data compiled by Reuters showed.

As MRC informed before, Saudi Aramco and France's Total are considering building a mixed-feed cracker and derivatives in Jubail, near their joint refining complex. The cracker is expected to have a capacity of 1.5 MMtpy, said a source familiar with the plans, who described them as at an initial stage.

Saudi Aramco is an integrated oil and chemicals company, a global leader in hydrocarbon production, refining processes and distribution, as well as one of the largest global oil exporters. It manages proven reserves of crude oil and condensate estimated at 261.1bn barrels, and produces 9.54 million bbl daily. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, the company employs over 61,000 staff in 77 countries.
MRC

Air Liquide signs new long-term contract with LyondellBasell

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Air Liquide has recently signed a new long-term agreement with LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies, to supply oxygen to LyondellBasell’s new large-scale petrochemical plant which will be constructed in Channelview, Texas, according to BusinessWire.

LyondellBasell’s new propylene oxide/tertiary butyl alcohol plant (PO/TBA), is expected to be the largest of its kind plant in the world when completed.

The oxygen provided by Air Liquide will be sourced from its Gulf Coast Pipeline System, part of the largest industrial gas pipeline system in the world, which spans more than 2,000 miles along the coasts of southeast Texas and Louisiana.

LyondellBasell’s USD2.4 billion PO/TBA project is part of its announced organic growth program. The PO/TBA portion of this investment is designed to meet rising global demand for both urethanes and cleaner-burning oxyfuels. The construction of LyondellBasell’s new PO/TBA plant is expected to begin in the second half of 2018 and be completed in 2021.

Susan Ellerbusch, CEO of Air Liquide USA LLC, which is comprised of the company’s U.S. Large Industries and Electronics businesses, said: "We appreciate the confidence LyondellBasell has placed in Air Liquide as the oxygen supplier of choice for their largest ever PO plant. This long-term agreement further recognizes the unmatched reliability and flexibility of Air Liquide’s Gulf Coast oxygen pipeline system and our ability to help LyondellBasell realize the fullest potential of their new world scale investment."

As MRC informed previously, in February 2018, LyondellBasell and A. Schulman, Inc. a leading global supplier of high-performance plastic compounds, composites and powders, announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement under which LyondellBasell would acquire A. Schulman for a total consideration of USD2.25 billion.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 55 sites in 17 countries. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

Mexican Pemex processing up 9% crude oil domestically

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mexican national oil company Pemex is currently processing about 9 percent more crude oil at its domestic refineries than it did in 2017, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to Chief Executive Officer Carlos Trevino.

Trevino told reporters that current processing levels stand at about 834 Mbpd, which compares to crude processing of about 767 Mbpd last year, according to Pemex.

The executive, who took the reins of the state-run company in November, said he expects processing levels to reach about 900 Mbpd once maintenance plans at two facilities are completed.

Trevino said almost all plants at Pemex’s Ciudad Madero refinery have completed scheduled maintenance, while maintenance at its Minatitlan refinery has experienced some delays.

As MRC informed earlier, in November 2015, Fluor Corp. announced that ICA Fluor, its industrial engineering and construction joint venture with Empresas ICA, had signed a contract with Pemex to supply detail engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the utilities and offsites that are part of the Tula refinery upgrade at Hidalgo, Mexico. The total contract value is USD1.1 billion.

Pemex, Mexican Petroleum, is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. Pemex has a total asset worth of USD415.75 billion, and is the world's second largest non-publicly listed company by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009. Company produces such polymers, as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS).
MRC

SABIC, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation joint venture, SAMAC, begins production of high-value products at Jubail plants

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC announced the successful completion of the pilot operation of the Methyl Methacrylate Monomer (MMA) and Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) plants and the commencement of commercial operations, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC Executive Vice President, Petrochemicals commented, "Our strategic joint venture with MCC broadens our specialty portfolio by drawing on the technological expertise of MCC, owner of the world-class Alpha technology. We are committed to serving the global and local markets, and supporting the development of downstream growth in Saudi Arabia in line with Saudi Vision 2030."

The MMA plant has a 250 Mtpy capacity, while the PMMA plant has an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tons. These new high-value products will diversify materials used in industrial clusters, thus allowing expansion and further diversification in Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector, besides creating new global opportunities in the downstream industries such as construction, automotive, electronics, medical technologies and appliances.
MRC

Transcontinental to buy plastics packager Coveris for USD1.7 billion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a bid to expand its plastics packaging business, Montreal-based printing and packaging supplier Transcontinental Inc. is buying plastics packager Coveris Americas for USD1.7 billion, as per Canplastics.

Headquartered in Chicago, Coveris Americas makes rollstock, bags, pouches, coextruded films, shrink films, coated substrates, labels and related flexible packaging. The company operates 21 production facilities in the Americas, the U.K., and Australasia.

As part of the deal, Transcontinental will take control of the 21 production facilities that make rollstock, bags and pouches, shrink films and labels, among others. "This transaction crystallizes our strategic shift toward flexible packaging and solidifies our commitment to profitable growth," Transcontinental Chairwoman Isabelle Marcoux said in a news release.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. The Coveris acquisition is the latest in an extremely busy few years for Transcontinental. Less than three weeks ago, Transcontinental bought Multifilm Packaging Corp. of Elgin, Ill. Earlier in 2017, it bought Quebec-based flexible packaging supplier Les Industries Flexipak Inc.; and in October 2016 Transcontinental bought Flexstar Packaging Inc., a flexible packager based in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, B.C. In total, Transcontinental has made seven flexible packaging acquisitions since it entered the field in 2014.

MRC